For The Roses
by Tijiya
Summary: The four gang members never expected anything to happen that night. That night a little bundle came into their possesion. A smile is all that would be needed from her to brighten up their world. Of course, all roses have their thorns...
1. Prologue

**Prologue

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Makai, They found her in the trash. Luck was on the boys' side; the rats hadn't gotten to her yet. Two of the vermin had already climbed onto the top of the covered picnic basket and were franticly clawing at the wicker, while three others were tearing at the sides with their razor sharp teeth. The rat youkai were in a frenzy, for they smelled milk and tender, sweet- scented flesh. The ally was the gang's home. Three of the four boys were sound asleep in their make-do beds of converted wooden crates lined with old straw. They'd put in a full night's work of thieving and conning and fighting. They were simply too exhausted to hear the cries of the infant. Yusuke was to be her savior. His raven black hair was pulled into a messy pony tail and his sharp brown eyes scanned the area. The fourth member of the gang was taking his turn doing sentry duty at the narrow mouth of the ally. He'd been watching a dark-cloaked woman for quite some time now. When she came hurrying toward the opening with the basket in her arms, he warned the other gang members of possible trouble with a soft, low-pitched whistle, then retreated into his hiding place behind a stack of old whiskey barrels. The woman paused in the archway, gave a furtive glance back over her shoulder toward the street, then ran into the very center of the ally. She stopped so suddenly her skirts flew out around her ankles. Grabbing the basket by the handle she swung her arm back as far as it would go and threw the basket into a pyramid of garbage piled high against the opposite wall. It landed on it's side, near the top. The woman was muttering under her breath all the while. Yusuke couldn't make out any of the words because the sound she made was muffled by another noise coming from the basket. It sounded like a baby's cry. He wasn't given time to mull over a possible answer, for the woman suddenly started running back to the street. When she was almost to the corner, Yusuke gave another whistle. This one was loud, shrill. The oldest of the gang members, a runaway youkai named Kurama, leapt to his feet with the agility and speed of a predator. His crimson hair fell to his shoulder blades and his emerald eyes were calculating. Yusuke's whistle had alerted him meaning there was a risk of danger or someone in danger. Yusuke pointed to the basket, and then took off in pursuit of the woman using his youkai speed to help him. Kurama watched Yusuke leave then turned to get the basket. It wasn't an easy task. The rat youkai didn't want to give up their bounty. Reaching into his long crimson locks, he pulled out a rose transforming it into a deadly vine, most commonly known as his Rose Whip. When he was certain they were all dead he lifted the basket out of the garbage and carried it to the bed of crates where the other members still slept. He almost dropped the basket when he heard faint sounds coming from inside, and it wasn't quiet that's for sure.  
"Shippo, Hiei, wake up. Yusuke found something." Kurama continued past the beds and went to the dead end of the ally. He sat down, folded his legs in front of him, and put the basket on the ground. He leaned back against the brick wall and waited for the other two boys to join him, still in his youkai form, for he didn't know what lay in the basket itself. Hiei, sat down on Kurama's right side, and Shippo, yawning loudly, hunkered down on his other side. Shippo's auburn hair sticking up in odd directions and his forest green eyes pinned on Kurama. His bushy, tan tail twitched a bit when a particularly loud, shrill scream emitted from the basket. Hiei's crimson gaze turned to the basket, his black hair seemed to want nothing to do with gravity and had a white starburst in the middle.  
"What'd you find boss?" Shippo asked his voice thick with sleep. He'd asked Kurama the question. The other three gang members had elevated the runaway demon to the position of leader one month ago. They'd used both reason and emotion to come to their decision. Kurama was the oldest of the boys, almost fourteen now, and logic suggested he, therefore, lead the others. Also, he was the most intelligent of the four. While those were two sound reasons, there was yet another more compelling one. Kurama had risked his own life to save each one from certain death, and when two of them were very skilled and tended to avoid death most of the time, that's saying a lot. "Boss?" Shippo whispered. Kurama snapped out of his daze.

"Not certain," he replied. He cautiously lifted the lid, and then they let out a collective gasp. They couldn't believe what they were seeing, a baby as perfect as an angel from above was sleeping soundly in the basket. Kurama was the first to recover from the surprise. "Dear lord in heaven how could anyone deliberately throw away something this precious?" Kurama whispered.  
"I don't know, but it's not right," Shippo said sadly. He was abandoned as a young child by his parents, that's when the others found him and took him in accepting him as one of them. "So what are we going to do with her?" he asked.  
"Well she ain't sticking with us. I don wanna girl fussing all the time," said Yusuke who just seemingly just got back.  
"Well we ain't throwing her away!" Kurama said loudly. The baby was awake and the two of the boys noticed that she wasn't crying it seemed like she was waiting till they were finished with their quarrel. But when they didn't stop Hiei and Shippo swore that they saw an exasperated look on her face before she let out a shrill scream.  
"OUCH!" yelled Kurama, Yusuke, Hiei, and Shippo simultaneously. She stopped after they shut up.  
"Well there ain't anything wrong with her lungs that's for sure," Yusuke grumbled then sighed obviously giving up. "Fine, I won't object to her staying…but if she turns my hair pink," he motioned to his messy raven black hair. "She's out of here," he joked. Shippo laughed at Yusuke momentarily. The image he now had was rather entertaining.  
"You wouldn't look that bad…" Shippo smirked earning a glare from the older boy.  
"Well," Yusuke started plopping down on the ground, directing his chocolate gaze to the others. "what should we name her?" Shippo smiled when the little baby took a hold of his finger, his hand looked so much larger compared to her own. Not even thinking about it, he blurted out a name.  
"Kagome." the other three turned to Shippo, who looked at them in surprise. "What?" he asked.  
"That's perfect," Kurama smiled. Yusuke laced his hands behind his head and leaned against the wall nodding his agreement.  
"We can't have her growing up here, she's a nigen. It would only attract other youkai to her presence, we have enough trouble as it stands," Hiei pointed out.

"Then maybe the Ningenkai would be a better place to raise her," Kurama said.

"Yeah, that'd be a good idea," Yusuke agreed. It had been decided, young Kagome would grow up in the Ningenkai with the four gang members.

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**Tijiya: It has been forever since I had done anything with this story! For a long time I had writers block with everything and I was mainly concentrating on 'Inner Demons'. But now, I am going to update my other stories as often as I can! I hope you all enjoy the new, revised version of 'For the Roses'. Please review!**

**Kaze mai:–holds up a blue piece of paper-**

**_I, Tijiya, hereby state no claim to the following anime:_**

_**Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi**_

_**Yu Yu Hakusho © Yoshihiro Togashi**_

_**I only borrow them to amuse myself and my readers. **_


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

Long raven hair swirled behind her as she ran quickly across the shrine grounds she lived on. She passed the red and white roses that were currently in bloom, stopping long enough to pick a white one and place it behind her ear. Most would not have placed a rose behind their ear freshly picked because of the thorns, but a few of those roses grew without thorns. The one who grew them knowing how much she loved to pick at least one upon returning and place it in her hair. Her long slender legs were shown off due to her short attire, the requirement for her school. The forest green skirt came to mid-thigh and the long sleeved, red and green trimmed sailor shirt came an inch above her belly button. She came upon the shrine and threw open the door rushing inside after quickly depositing her shoes by the door. Her nose sniffed the air tenderly, her smile widened as she rushed into the kitchen and swung past a male who had just taken a tray from the oven and snatching one of the hot goodies from the tray. She held it between her teeth as she placed her large yellow pack on the table.

"How do you do that?" the male asked, amusement dancing in his chocolate orbs. The girl took a bite from the savory cookie enjoying the way it melted in her mouth before she replied.

"Mmm, I can smell them a mile away!" she replied.

"Told you she'd be back a day sooner if you made those cookies," a deep voice laughed as another male entered the room. His long auburn tail swished lightly behind him. When Yusuke had learned how to cook, of course he was taught by Kurama, he had just thrown together a few ingredients after not having the right ones to make sugar cookies. The young woman in front of them had loved the treats since. Who knew that one of his experiments had turned out for the better! Most of his meals back then had turned up burnt (still do), but we're not going into that right yet. She sat in a chair licking her fingers of the remaining chocolate from her delicious treat.

"I came back a day sooner because I miss all of you, Yusuke just so happened to be making his famous cookies at the time," she stated with a grin. Shippo sat down next to her looking her over for any signs of injuries or the like. Yusuke walked over to the cabinet and took out the medical supplies then handed them to Shippo who promptly started bandaging up her right arm after removing the old bandages that covered it. She looked worn; dark purple half circles had formed under her eye lids.

"I'm fine, could have done that….myself," she yawned before finishing her sentence.

"How long are you staying this time?" Shippo asked.

"Probably only a few days, a week if I'm lucky."

"Kagome, he's got you running yourself ragged," Yusuke sighed. Kagome simply shook her head trying to deny what was just said no matter how true it was.

"It's my fault that the Shikon was shattered, it's my responsibility to…to put it back together!" she defended.

"But you also have another responsibility."

"I do?"

"To your family," Yusuke and Shippo said simultaneously. Kagome looked down at her lap knowing that she had been neglecting to spend time with those she considered her family, but, as Yusuke had said, Inuyasha was running her ragged.

"Welcome home Kagome," Kurama smiled and placed his keys on the counter having just returned. Kurama walked over to the young girl and cupped her chin. He looked her over and frowned before releasing his hold. "You look exhausted, you should go take a nap," he suggested freeing her from Yusuke and Shippo. She smiled gratefully before going upstairs. Kurama then turned to the two youkai. "What's going on?"

"He's taking advantage of her! You know that she has a hard time standing up to that…half-breed! He's running her ragged, as you said, she's exhausted. She only plans on staying a couple of days," Yusuke said, his voice steadily rising.

"Yusuke, this is her own decision…."

"You said that before!"

"You didn't let me finish," Kurama snapped. Yusuke immediately quieted. "It is her own decision, but when it seems to be affecting her both physically and mentally we need to step in. Limit her time; staying there three weeks to a month or longer will no longer be acceptable."

"You know that she's not going to take it too entirely well," Shippo said. Hiei immediately turned to leave the kitchen the moment those words left Shippo's mouth. Hiei had been on the brunt end of her female hormones more than once and wished to be spared this time.

"I take that as a 'leave me out of it'," Yusuke chuckled. His only answer was one of the couch pillows being tossed at him.

"Guess so," Shippo said before looking up the stairs. "So who's going to be the one to break it to her?" He asked. Silence enveloped the room none wanting to be the one to do so. Both Shippo and Yusuke looked at Kurama who just now noticed what was going through their twisted minds.

"You're the most diplomatic one!" Yusuke said trying to convince the kitsune to do it.

"And the most patient!" Shippo added.

"All right, fine," Kurama agreed. "But, you…" he grabbed Yusuke's shirt collar. "…are coming with me." Shippo simply smirked and waved as Yusuke was dragged into the living room to discuss on how this would be broken to the young Miko. Shippo grabbed an apple and went into the library room where Hiei was currently reading.

"You weren't the one talked into it? I'm quite surprised," Hiei said the moment the young kitsune walked into the room.

"Kurama was the one who agreed to it, but he roped Yusuke into coming with him," he then bit into the apple. "What do you think should be done about this situation though?"

"If it were up to me that well would have been sealed and the well house boarded up a long time ago," the hybrid replied. Shippo plopped into a chair silently agreeing with Hiei's opinion.

"That girl, always trying to make everyone happy and yet…"

"Neglects to make herself happy," Hiei finished.

**-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-**

**Whoo! Another chapter is at last up, I'm either slow or just lazy. I'm not quite certain where I want to go with this yet nor what I want to do with the parring. I had started this so long ago I had forgotten! Well if you have any suggestions I'd be happy to hear them.**

**Inuyasha (c) Rumiko Takahashi**

**Yu Yu Hakusho (c) Yoshihiro Togashi**

**Please review!**


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Kagome sat on her bed staring at the ground listening to Yusuke and Kurama. She knew that this would come up sooner or later, but she would have preferred later.

"I know that this would be the reasonable thing to do, but I can't," she said. "It's my…."

"Kagome," Kurama cut in shortly. "If you keep up this pace you will end up ill, he keeps you there too often and too long. Half the time you come home with no more shards than you left with."

"That's because Naraku must have the rest, which means the final battle is just around the corner! He may be in hiding now, but who knows when…."

"At this pace you may not even make it to the final battle," Yusuke sighed.

"I'm old enough to take care of myself now!" she said as she stood up. "I don't need to be babysat!"

"That is not what we're implying Kagome!" Kurama's voice rose a couple of notches. "We're looking out for your wellbeing!"

"I can do that myself now; I will be seventeen in a few months!"

"Age has nothing to do with it!" It was rare that Kurama ever raised his voice, but when he did it meant he was not going to back down. But it seemed like Kagome wasn't going to back down so easily either.

"Then when will you deem me responsible enough to make my own decisions?"

"When I see that you no longer make decisions that put your own health at risk when it's avoidable!" Yusuke stood at the side seeing as there was no room for input in their argument. He just wished that Kagome would see that they were right.

"My life is being put at risk there, so why does it matter?" Kurama didn't speak when Kagome finished her sentence.

"We don't want to loose you," Yusuke said in a low tone.

"I may not even come back from the final battle, so why bother with this?"

"We want to spend time with you while we can," Kurama replied, his voice as equally low as Yusuke's. With that said he turned and left the room leaving Yusuke behind with Kagome. With nothing to say, Yusuke quickly followed Kurama out of the room. After a few moments Hiei walked into her room just as she sat on her bed letting everything sink in.

"You're lucky. I would rather the well be sealed so this matter would be resolved," he said. She refused to meet his crimson gaze.

"We all die, so why should it matter if I do soon?"

"Hn, you are quite dense if you can not see why." Kagome snapped her head up not knowing if she should glare at him or look confused. She settled on a look somewhere in between. "As youkai we will outlive you by much. Seeing your already short lifespan shorted by many years would be heartbreaking for them. Just when we thought our lives were going nowhere, you came along. Show a little appreciation for what we have given you, a second chance at life. Live wisely, not foolishly." With those final words Hiei too left the room, leaving Kagome to ponder what he had said.

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"I take it, it didn't go well," Shippo sighed.

"It could have been better…" Yusuke replied before taking a bite of his apple. Kurama sat on the couch in the living room reading a novel he was eager to finish. "Maybe we should let her figure this one for herself."

"If we do that she'll die for sure."

"Do not underestimate her Shippo." Said kitsune jumped in the air being caught unawares by the voice behind him.

"Don't do that Hiei! I swear my life has been shortened by a hundred years!" Hiei simply rolled his eyes while Yusuke snickered.

"So what'd ya say to her?" he questioned the hybrid leaning against the counter with crossed arms.

"Something that she should think about," was the simple reply.

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**Tijiya:** Finally I have another chapter of 'For the Roses' up! Now, I am in a bit of a jam. I don't know where to go with the plot, all suggestions will be loved greatly! Also, the parring is unknown to me even so suggestions about that will be loved also! Well, that's it for now. Reviews are loved!

**Inuyasha (c) Rumiko Takahashi**

**Yu Yu Hakusho (c) Yoshihiro Togashi**

**For the Roses (c) Julie Garwood**


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